Raglan sleeved toddler dress

Description

My daughter is quite hard to fit, so I have been altering a small collection of 1970s patterns to fit her. I’ve come up with this raglan sleeve pattern from mixing an original U.S. size 2T with elements of a size 4T. I call it a dress, but it is really more of a long top to wear with pants. It’s quite easy to make, taking a few hours during a nap and a bit more after she has gone to sleep for the night. I’ve included all of my ‘wash and wear’ steps which take more time in the beginning but allow the item to wash over and over and wear hard. My philosophy is why not make it last as long as possible, if I’m going to the trouble to make it at all. I’ve made six of this variation so far – and am still trying to improve on the pattern before I make some to send to nieces and friends.

I think it is simple enough for a novice but will put ‘intermediate’ because of the zipper and facing. I like sewing the zipper in by hand for 1.) convenience of not messing with zipper foot and 2.) recycling zippers from her older clothing is easier that way.

Material Notes

uses less than 1 yard each of two matching fabrics (orange view) or nearly one yard of a print fabric and 1/3 yard of muslin for sleeves (paisley view)

Stampede: 9 New Countryside Patterns

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